Slackers?
Grumpies?
Allies In Change?

WARNING: You cannot use this information as a way to understand any one individual!! This is not an attempt to stereotype people, but rather, a way to understand the point in which we teeter in time with regard to change!

The theme of this presentation page is:

We have change, it presents us with a challenge, and what will be our response? Think of this theme as you read through this page.

Drawing the Generation line of X:

In terms of Age Cohorts some say Generation X includes those born between 1960 and 1980, some say it includes those born between 1965 and 1979, and yet others say it includes those born between 1968 and now.  I prefer to look at Generation Xers as those born between 1960 and about 1980.

Values seem to be one demarcation of Generation X.  This generation grew up watching social change being driven at the grass roots level with the Vietnam war, the Civil Rights Movement, the Peace Corp., the Counter Culture, etc. They were taught to be skeptical and to distrust big government.  After seeing Nixon resign in disgrace and being pardoned they saw things like Watergate, the Iran Contra affair, the savings and loan scandal, Travel gate, the Whitewater scandal, and the Star Investigation resulting in the impeachment of the US President. Authority must be questioned in the minds of this generation.

Television seems to be another clear demarcation of the beginning of the generation called X. For those in the Gen-X age cohort, television was just coming of age when they began to watch.  At age 12, I remember the sensational boom of the situational comedy/drama shows such as the Brady Bunch, Welcome Back Kotter, The Mod Squad, Room 222, All In The Family, A Family Affair, Good Times, Happy Days, The Jeffersons, Charlie's Angels, I Dream of Jeannie, Its About Time, My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, Manix, The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak, Gilligan's Island, The Partridge Family, The Adams Family, Lassie, The Big Valley, Bonanza, Emergency, Barnaby Jones, Sanford and Son, Starsky and Hutch, and The Night Stalker.

ABC-NBC-and-CBS Nightly News -- My Dad watched these on our only TV which kept me from seeing my cartoons.

The educational show also began to flourish along with the normal standard comedy hour:  ZOOM, The Electric Company, School House Rock, ABC Afternoon School Special, Sesame Street, Mr. Roger's, The Donny And Marie Show, The Jackson Five, Love American Style, Sonny and Cher, John Denver, Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Carol Burnet Show to name but a few.

One more important demarcation of this generation is the innovation of the personal computer.  For those in the Gen-X age cohort, computers were just beginning to reshape our world when they were attending college or high school.  The TRS-80 was a rage, a product where you wrote your own programs to make it do just something!  I remember writing basic code to get it to blink my name. I got so good at writing programs I could make it do basic calculations (I guess I was just practicing for today). PONG, Atari --  say no more for the computer game, (now there's virtual reality).  Then came the IBM 8088 that had only two disk drives to hold a program and your files (no hard disk).  The release of Word Star, and then Word Perfect, began the explosion of the PC in our lives.  Year after Year and Month after Month, I saw new versions of software drive hardware out of existence.  Computers were obsolete after you purchased one, far sooner than they are obsolete today.  First, there was the 10 meg hd, then 20 (286), then 40, then 80 (386), then 100, then 200(486), then 250, then 500(Pentium), and on until now the typical computer can have about 17gigs of hd space(Pentium III).  The amount of change this age cohort has seen with regard to computing is absolutely phenomenal.

Remember Instant Gratification?  This was a term in the 70's that described the attitude of the overindulged teenager.  The Very Early Baby Boomers and their parents wanted their children to have it better than they did and they gave it to us.  Ironically, they created "Instant Gratification" in the Gen-X population. The term Instant Gratification stereo-typed the Gen-Xers as wanting everything now without wanting to work for it.  "You gotta go to college and get a good job." College meant INFORMATION!

Well, "Instant Gratification" got us: Super speed computing of words and numbers, up to date real time information, 24 hour news, 24 hour weather, ATM, Faxes, E-mail, on-line access to accounts of all kinds, on-line shopping, overnight delivery, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ON-LINE AT ALMOST THE SPEED OF LIGHT!!!   Try- Almost instant overnight millionaires like Steven Dell, Pierre Omidyar, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many others - names unknown.

How is "Instant Gratification" and the Internet changing your work?
 
 

The Generation called X questions authority, welcomes change, and loves what instant things technology can do!!!!
 
 

The age cohort in control today of many of our government institutions are of the generation before the Baby Boomers and The Baby Boomers themselves.  They are faced with having to respond to more change than has ever faced any generation before them.  The problem is that the change has not come gradually, it has come at such a quick pace that its passing our leader's ability to respond.

NETGOV gives these Statistics:

In 1999, 1.45 billion web pages were on-line.
In 2002, there will be 7.7 billion web pages on-line.

In 1994 there were 5.8 million US households on-line.
Now there are 38.8 million US households on-line and in 2003 there will be 60 million on-line.

In 1998 (2 years ago) there were 30 million on-line servers, today there are 60 million on-line servers.
60% of the servers worldwide are in the US.

Here is the quintessential statement about how rapidly change is increasing in our society with regard to technology:

A group called EMarketer says that in 1999 consumers will have spent 64.6 billion dollars online.
Forrester Research says that 13 million consumers will make purchases in 1999.

The remarkable thing about an electronic online store is that it is open 24-7-365! (IG?)
 

• When you got numbers, they can speak for themselves.
• Numbers can take the GUT out of the traditional decision making process if we only let them.
• Questioning authority can become less needed when everything is known.
• Information is one of the great equalizers. That's why we have government in the sunshine!!

• When you want things now and you welcome change, the status quo seems unimportant.
• The time frame for change has a smaller window for those who welcome it.
• Change IS now our only constant.
• The proliferation of information, educational, and learning type TV shows is in reaction information needs.

• We barely scratch the surface with regard to using the PC to its potential.
• We can now get instant information from the most hallowed of professions.
• We can instantly view locations around the world through streaming video.
• We can instantly search billions of web pages for information regarding our jobs.
• We can get instant quotes of our stocks in our investment portfolios.
• We can even get instant information on the measures of our performance as an organization.
• We can get almost instant online approval for a mortgage.

Here is an excerpt from one of my Level V pages.

We must make change based on what we find from the data on which we measure outcomes. If we improve, by definition we must make change.  I think this is the next piece of the puzzle that the generation called X will bring to the table.  The ability to be uncomfortable when change is not taking place.  Change is lived with and is expected by this generation.  They create it.  It is created for them.  Look at how some of them live, with mom this week, dad the next, and the grandparents after that.  Mobilization, Internet, Cell phones, Fashion, Computers, and Web TV.  ITS MIND BOGGLING.   Look at their sports. BMX-freestyle-obstacle-and-mountain biking, street luge, snow boarding, skate boarding, rock climbing, and sky surfing.  All these games are in a state of evolution and most are less than twenty years old.  ESPN now regularly covers the X-Games.  Older generations have played basketball, baseball, and football the same way for at least 100 years.   What about this generation's choice of boats?  The Sea Doo, Wave Runner, Jet Ski.  Up until the Eighties and Nineties, most boats had paddles to go along with their outboard or inboard prop style motors (which never went faster than 30 miles an hour as a standard).   The standard speed of today's wave runner is 60 mph and has no room for a paddle.  Things are changing faster than ever before and if you aren't participating in change then you are slowing it down.
 

Claire Raines, the Narrator of "The X Factor", has these things to say about GEN X

They are the most diverse generation produced in the US to date.  One out of every three are minorities.
You better have an answer for them when they ask you:   "What's in it for me?"
She says they have a loose profile of:

• They are good at change
• They like technology and are comfortable with it
• They are independent and don't need validation
• They are not intimidated by authority
• They are creative

• Appreciate them and recognize them
• Be flexible, as they want a life out of work
• Create teams for them in which to work
• Develop them
• Involve them in decisions
• Lighten up, as they like to have fun at work
• And Walk your Talk - model behavior

Here it is in a nut shell, why you've waded through this presentation:

The Generation called X is your biggest ally in gathering information, measuring performance, making change, and in getting it done now!    TQM, PB2, Strategic Planning, Continuous Improvement are all natural activities for this generation.  Include them by providing opportunities to own their processes and empower them to make change.
 

ONE LAST THING TO PUT THIS INTO PERSPECTIVE:

I received this through the Internet.
Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen.

Here's the 1998(?) list:

1.  The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980.
2.  They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and did not know he had ever been shot.
3.  They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
4.  Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
5.  There has been only one Pope.  They can only really remember one president.
6.  They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.
7.  They have never feared a nuclear war.  "The Day After" is a pill to them, not a movie.
8.  They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up, and Tiananmen Square means nothing.
9.  Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
10. They never had a polio shot, and likely do not know what it is.
11. Bottle caps have not only always been screw off, but have always been plastic.  What's a pull-top can?
12. Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
13. The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them.
14. They have never owned a record player.
15. They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.
16. Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.
17. There have always been red M&Ms, and blue ones are not new. There used to be beige ones?
18. They may have heard of an 8-track, but chances are they may never have actually seen or heard one.
19. The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old.
20. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
21. They have always had an answering machine.
22. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.
23. They have always had cable.
24. There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.
25. They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
26. They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
27. Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.
28. The Tonight Show has always been with Jay Leno.
29. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
30. Popcorn has always been cooked in a microwave.
31. They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player.
32. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
33. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII, or even the Civil War.
34. They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
35. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
36. They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
37. They never heard the terms: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "de plane, de plane!"
38. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
39. The Titanic was found?  I thought we always knew where it was.
40. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.
41. McDonald's never came in styrofoam containers.
42. There has always been MTV.
 
 

So!!!! I've outlined the change! You know the challenge. What will be your response???
 
 

Lee Moreno
"The highest reward for one's toil is not what one gets for it, but what one becomes by it"
 
 

A Reader of this page recently wrote me and said::::::
___________________________________________________
I heard an interview the other night on WFSU-FM on a program called Market-place.  It was with an author on a book about Gen-X and others.....  The book is called "Generations at Work: the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Work Place."   I thought of your presentation.... The author, Ron Zenke, was very "X" supportive.  For example: he suggested a boomer experiencing a breakdown of a piece of equipment would immediately call the help desk or maintenance where an "xer" would spend at least 30 minutes tinkering himself before calling anyone.  Well, I am pre-boomer by 12-24 months and I guess I would try my best to fix it too....  Thought you might find this interesting reading if you are not already aware. (Publisher: Amacom)
___________________________________________________
 
 
 

Here are a few pages I've seen about GEN X. There are thousands of GEN X web pages and their views are not necessarily mine nor my sponsors. Some are spiritual, entertaining, irreverent, futuristic, and forward looking.  There is something for everyone on the Net about GEN X:

http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~drv8897/index.htm
http://www.working-solutions.com/client/newsletter/NewsletterArchive/tmt-worldneeds.html
http://www.bbhq.com/bomrgenx.htm
http://www.qal.berkeley.edu/~olopez/project.html
http://www.qal.berkeley.edu/~olopez/review.html